Report: Toyota to Recall 300,000 Prius Hybrids
Feb. 8, 2010 – The recent manufacturing safety woes of the world’s largest automobile manufacturer, the Toyota Motor Corporation, have caught up the world’s most popular hybrid vehicle, the Toyota Prius.
Toyota officials reportedly are recalling some 300,000 Prius hybrid cars manufactured since May 2009 due to widespread complaints of braking problems, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported today. The recall comes in addition to the about 9 million vehicles across eight model lines Toyota officials have recalled already worldwide – including about 2.3 million vehicles in the United States.
Officials for the U.S. National Highway Traffic Highway and Safety Administration recently opened an investigation into the high number of complaints received regarding braking issues with the Toyota Prius, which is not among the eight models and 9 million vehicles worldwide the auto manufacturer recently recalled due to problems with the gas pedal sticking and causing sudden acceleration.
Federal officials said combining all the complaints received on all eight recalled 2010 Toyota models wouldn’t amount to half of the 171 complaints already received on the 2010 Toyota Prius. Some 124 of the complaints about the Prius focus on similar braking issues. By comparison, Toyota recalled its Corolla model, which only had 33 complaints thus far in 2010.
Officials for the Japanese government already have ordered Toyota officials to look into the matter, which reportedly can be fixed with a change in software programming. Toyota officials say no accidents have been caused by the braking problem in the Prius, but U.S. officials said it is responsible for causing four non-injury accidents in the United States.
Toyota officials earlier recalled several popular vehicles models for problems with the gas pedal, claiming a floor mat could cause the accelerator to stick. But the company expanded the recall when the initial fix failed to fully address problems with its popular Camry sedan and other models.
The Japanese automaker has recalled all Camry models manufactured from 2007 to 2010 as well as 2009 through current-year models Corolla, Matrix and the RAV4. Also recalled are the 2005 through 2010 Avalon, the 2008 through 2010 Sequoia and the 2010 Highlander. The recall covers about 9 million vehicles sold in North America, China and Europe. Toyota also has halted manufacturing new models until the matter is resolved.
Toyota officials say the combined recall efforts could cost the company about $2 billion. Toyota is the world’s largest manufacturer of automobiles and recently overtook bankrupted General Motors as the auto industry’s top sellers.
Comments
Leave a Reply